This is a pilot study designed to carefully examine the efficacy of different doses of interferon during the first six weeks of therapy in a selected group of patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections with varying levels of circulating virus. Patients will randomly assigned to receive 1 million units (MU), 3MU, 5MU, ot 10MU interferon alpha-2b daily for 6 weeks followed by 12 months of maintenance therapy with 3MU interferon three times a weekly plus oral ribavirin (1000-1200 mg/day). Both interferon and viral kinetics will be examined during the first weeks of treatment. In addition, viral sequences will be determined before and after the first six weeks of therapy to determine the rate at which viral resistance to interferon develops.